"Garry, you don't get a say in this."

"I don't get a say?" Garry let out a cold laugh and planted himself right in front of me. "Ida, I think I've been too good to you. Without the title of Mrs. Sanchez, what do you even have?"

Even though hope had long since died inside me, his cutting words still sent a stab of pain through my chest.

"Garry, I have an idea." Kayla's smile dripped with malice as she laid out her little scheme. "The only reason she dares act this way is because she's been living comfortably with nothing to worry about, right? Just freeze her bank cards. Give it a few days and she'll come crawling back, begging to make nice."

"Fine. Freeze them."

Garry turned to me, his face dark as a storm. "You can still apologize. Do it now, and I might reconsider."

"Go ahead and freeze them." I lifted my chin, a bitter smile on my lips. I wanted to see him try.

"Unbelievable." This time Garry didn't hesitate. He dialed the bank immediately. "I have several cards under my name. Shut them all down."

The bank representative verified the information several times before responding in an odd tone. "Mr. Sanchez, are you sure you want to freeze these particular cards?"

"Yes!" Garry's voice was clipped with impatience. "How many times do I have to say it?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Sanchez, but these cards have had a zero balance for quite some time. There hasn't been a single transaction in six months."

Garry froze. He stared at me, bewildered. "No living expenses? How have you been surviving these past six months? I transferred money to you every month..."

I laughed, hollow and self-mocking. "How generous of you to remember. Six months ago, you told me Kayla was frugal and responsible while I did nothing but blow money buying press coverage to flaunt our relationship. So you cut off my allowance yourself. Ring any bells?"

A tangle of emotions crossed his face. He stood there in silence for a long time, until the customer service representative's voice pulled him back. "Mr. Sanchez? Would you still like to proceed with freezing the cards?"

"No..."

"Of course he would." Kayla snatched the phone from his hand. "Garry, don't let her fool you. Even if her allowance was cut, she still has shares in the Sanchezes. The monthly dividends alone are a fortune."

"Right. You almost slipped that past me." Garry placed the phone firmly in Kayla's palm, a sharp glint in his eyes as he looked at me. "When did you get so calculating, Ida? From now on, Kayla decides how much you spend."

I met the contempt in his gaze without flinching. My expression gave away nothing.

Shares in the Sanchezes? The family had taken those back the day after our wedding, citing one excuse or another.

A message lit up my phone screen.

Ida, your flight in three days is confirmed. Will you be ready to leave on schedule?

I replied yes and started packing.

Before I left, I wanted to visit Lily's grave one last time. I didn't want to be overseas, aching with the regret of not having said goodbye.

I'd hired someone to find the perfect resting place for her. Rolling green hills, clear water, beautiful scenery. Lily would have loved it.

I set the fruit and flowers down in front of the headstone in silence, and only when I lifted my head did my eyes betray me, red and burning. "Lily, I promise you, Mommy will make them pay. Just wait for me a little longer, okay?"

Then I saw the photograph.

My pupils contracted.

That wasn't Lily. It was a stranger. A middle-aged man I had never seen before.

My blood ran cold. Who did this?

I tore through the cemetery in a frenzy, making trip after trip until I finally tracked down the manager. "Where is my daughter? What did you do with my daughter?"

The manager looked completely baffled. "Ms. Swanson, didn't you come in yesterday when the payment was due and say you wouldn't be renewing? You said you had your own arrangements for the ashes."

"What are you talking about? I never received a payment reminder. Who did you call?" My voice cracked, tears choking the words in my throat. Who had done this to my baby girl?

"Your husband's secretary took the call!"

Kayla. Coleman.

Rage ignited inside me like wildfire.

By the time I stormed into Sanchez Corp, the receptionist blocked my path.

"I'm sorry, but Mrs. Sanchez has instructed us not to allow unauthorized visitors inside."

I stared at her. Then I pulled out the photo of my marriage certificate. "Garry and I aren't divorced yet. So where exactly did this Mrs. Sanchez come from?"

The receptionist glanced at the photo and scoffed. "That's obviously photoshopped. Everyone knows Mr. Sanchez adores his wife. He can't even bear to be apart from her during work hours, so he created a secretary position just to keep her close."

Her gaze swept over me, head to toe, dripping with contempt. "Someone like you? You think you could be Mrs. Sanchez?"

I took a deep breath and pulled out my phone to call Garry directly. But the voice that answered wasn't his.

It was Kayla's. Lazy. Suggestive. Dripping with something she wanted me to hear.

"He's busy. What do you want now?"

"Kayla, what did you do with Lily's grave?"

"Why do you care?" She let out a light, mocking laugh. "Mr. Sanchez put me in charge of it. Stop making a fuss."

The line went dead.

Seconds later, security appeared and politely escorted me out.

My thoughts spiraled. I had no idea where that woman had put Lily's ashes. But I didn't dare push her too hard either. If I backed her into a corner, she might destroy them entirely. Panic was clawing at my chest when I noticed two shabbily dressed people walking toward the Sanchez Corp entrance. A man and a woman, clearly from the countryside.

Something made me look twice.

The woman was beaming. "That girl Kayla sure works fast. Found a prime burial spot in less than a day. Now your uncle can finally rest easy."

The man hesitated. "I heard the plot used to belong to some little girl who burned to death. Her father's the CEO of Sanchez Corp. Is it really okay that she just tossed those ashes out?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. Mr. Sanchez is head over heels for Kayla. He won't care about something so small."

Every muscle in my body locked. Cold sweat crawled down my spine.

The next thing I knew, I was standing in the conference room. I didn't remember how I'd gotten there. Half a shard of broken glass was clenched in my fist.

Kayla scrambled behind Garry, her face a mask of terror.

Garry's expression twisted with fury. "Ida! What are you doing? There are senior executives in this room. Have you lost your mind?"

A ring of people surrounded the conference table, whispering, pointing.

I didn't see any of them.

"Kayla Coleman!" My voice cut through the room like a blade. "What did you do with my daughter's ashes? Answer me!"

Something in my expression must have shaken him, because beneath the anger, a flicker of doubt crept into Garry's eyes. He turned to Kayla. "Kayla... Lily's ashes. Did you touch them?"

"Of course not!" Kayla's lip trembled, her eyes wide and wounded. "Garry, she's your own daughter. I would've cherished her remains. How could you even ask me that?"

"You're lying!"

I shoved my phone in front of them, the cemetery photo filling the screen. "Then explain this. Who is this man buried in my daughter's plot?"

Garry's breath caught. "Kayla... who is this man?"

"Garry Sanchez, you useless piece of—" Tears burned down my cheeks before I could stop them. "You couldn't protect Lily when she was alive. Now you can't even protect her ashes! Your own daughter's remains were thrown away by this woman, and you just stand there!"

"That's impossible!" Garry shot back reflexively. "Kayla is kindhearted. She would never do something like that. There has to be a misunderstanding."

Kayla nodded, satisfaction barely concealed behind her pitiful expression. "Thank you for believing me, Garry. I truly have no idea what this is about."

"Still denying it?" My voice went flat. Cold. Dead. "I already found your accomplices outside. Let's see how you talk your way out of this."

As the words left my mouth, the security guards dragged the two farmwomen over.

"Tell them everything you did with Kayla. Every last detail!"

Kayla didn't look the least bit flustered. She turned to me with a smile, then her lips curled into something taunting. "I don't even know these two people. How do we know you didn't put them up to this just to frame me?"

"That's right!" The farmwoman's face flushed crimson as she shouted, "This woman hired us to do it! She wanted to set up that girl Kayla!"

"Exactly! She told us she was jealous of Kayla and wanted us to teach her a lesson!"

My eyes went wide. Only then did I realize I'd been played. "You—"

Slap!

Before I could finish, Garry's palm cracked across my face.

"Ida, how deranged do you have to be to use Lily's ashes to frame Kayla?"

"Are you even human?"

"I'll deal with you after I've handled Lily's grave."

My cheek went numb, but Lily's resting place mattered more than the sting. Garry moved with cold fury, mobilizing his bodyguards to set everything right. By the time Lily's grave was finally restored, the pain in my face caught up with me all at once.

He stared at the swelling blooming across my cheek, and his voice softened without him seeming to notice. "Come with me. Let me get some ice on that."

"Don't bother. I want to burn some offerings for Lily first."

I knelt down, my eyes burning red. She had been so small. How could she already be gone?

My thoughts tangled into knots, and then a sharp, acrid smell hit me. I looked up and saw Kayla's dog lifting its leg on Lily's headstone.

When it noticed me watching, the thing scurried behind Kayla, then turned and squatted again, as if mocking me.

"Get that filthy animal away from here!" I clenched my fists and shot to my feet, ready to kick it into the next life. "I will kill that dog today!"

Kayla furrowed her brows, her expression dripping with false concern. "Ida, why are you making such a fuss? It's just a dog. Why pick a fight with an animal?"

"Garry, are you blind?" I jabbed my finger at the wet patch on the stone. "That thing just urinated on our daughter's grave!"

"I saw." His voice was low, flat.

"And? It's a puppy. It doesn't know any better. Do you not know any better either?"

He looked at me the way someone looks at a child throwing a tantrum. "I'm exhausted. Can you just stop?"

From behind Garry's back, Kayla flashed me a grin. "You know, puppy urine is supposed to be great fertilizer. This whole patch is going to grow nice and lush. Your daughter should be grateful, really."

The two of them went back and forth, one echoing the other, and something inside me went cold. Garry was never going to be on my side. Not now. Not ever.

I borrowed a shovel without a word, face like stone, and scraped away every inch of contaminated soil myself. Then I tossed the contract I'd prepared at his feet.

"Garry. Sign it."

He seemed to notice for the first time just how hard he'd hit me. The swelling had turned my cheek into something grotesque. His hand reached toward my face on instinct, then froze midair. His gaze dropped. "This is... a divorce agreement?"

The moment the title registered, he folded the papers shut with one hand and tore them to shreds without reading a single line.

Tiny scraps of paper drifted onto my shoulders like confetti. I smiled, unbothered. "Guess I'll have to file in court, then."

"Ida." Garry's hands locked around my shoulders, his long fingers pressing into bone. His eyes burned with something unhinged. "I will never let you leave me. Not unless I'm dead."

"Oh?" I glanced past him at Kayla. Her face was twisted with jealousy she couldn't quite hide. "And what about her? Planning to keep us both, Mr. Sanchez?"

The moment she realized she'd been mentioned, Kayla's eyes welled with tears on cue. "Garry, maybe I should just go. She's too much. To get rid of me, she'd even use her own daughter's..." She trailed off, letting the silence do the work. Her gaze slid to Garry, and she heaved a deep, theatrical sigh. "I just feel so bad for you, Garry."

"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, no one will lay a finger on you." Garry patted Kayla's shoulder reassuringly, then turned and issued his command. "Ida, apologize to Kayla. Right now. If you can get her to forgive you, I'll let this whole thing go."

"But I don't want to forgive her!" Kayla stepped in front of Garry as if summoning every ounce of courage she had, her voice ringing with righteous indignation. "Garry, this woman hurt her own daughter just to get what she wanted. She doesn't deserve my forgiveness!"

Garry blinked, then reached over and ruffled her hair with an indulgent smile. "You're right, Kayla. You've got a good head on your shoulders. Not like some people, who are rotten straight down to the root."

He let his gaze drift toward me as he said it.

"Kayla, have you told so many lies that you've actually started believing them?"

"If you're not lying, then what is this?" My voice came out sharp, cutting through the room.

I pulled out the evidence I'd gathered. Videos. Chat logs. Hundreds of pages that stripped Kayla's mask clean off and exposed exactly who she was.

"This time, Kayla, you're finished."